The following application is being filed concurrently herewith on this 19th day of Oct., 2001, and is hereby incorporated by reference:
The present invention relates generally to a keyboard guide for assisting users in locating keys on a keyboard, and more particularly to a keyboard guide that is easily installed and removed, that accommodates the various sizes of different fingers, that positions a typist""s fingers in a more natural and comfortable position, and does not significantly interfere with the keys when in use.
In today""s PC dominated world, typing skills are more critical than ever. In the past, it was only a relatively small number of individuals who needed fast typing skillsxe2x80x94e.g. secretaries, journalists, etc. However, the ubiquitous nature of PCsxe2x80x94at home or office-now requires that numerous people improve their ability to input data in order to maximize efficiency, and economy of time.
In learning the touch system of typing, it is necessary to train oneself to strike the appropriate key without looking down at the keyboard. To facilitate this training, keyboards have what is known as the xe2x80x9chome key rowxe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9chome keysxe2x80x9d around which groups of keys are referenced. For example, the finger that strikes the xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d key (which is a home key in the QWERTY keyboard layout) would also strike the xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c,xe2x80x9d keys. Training one""s fingers to remain in the proper key group requires great effort, and there has been a substantial amount of invention relating to this sort of training.
A variety of earlier U.S. patents disclose various means and methods for learning the touch typing system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,125 to DiGiosia discloses a keyboard and key guide frame arrangement. U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,231 to Freer discloses a mnemonic device for learning how to type, and methods of constructing and utilizing the device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,704 to North discloses a keyboard cover. U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,550 to Devine discloses a keyboard training apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,465 to Funk et al. discloses a keyboard overlay. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 395,450 to Drumm et al. discloses an ornamental design for a keyboard training device. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 300,040 to Dermody discloses an ornamental design for a keyboard guide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,800 to Krag discloses a teaching attachment for typewriters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,967 to Siegel et al. discloses a method and apparatus for self teaching and practice of touch typing. U.S. Pat. No. 1,572,385 to Ellsworth discloses a finger guide for typewriters. U.S. Pat. No. 1,377,070 to Helguera discloses a keyboard finger guide. U.S. Pat. No. 1,687,904 to Larsen et al. discloses a typewriter keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 918,283 to Chrisman discloses a typewriter. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference for its supporting teachings.
While the foregoing patents demonstrate improvement in the area of typing instruction, they are either overly cumbersome in their application, or uneconomical, or do not adequately provide for the comfort of the typist.
There is, therefore, provided a keyboard guide that is easily installed and removed, that accommodates the various sizes of different fingers, that positions a typist""s fingers in a more natural and comfortable position, and does not significantly interfere with the keys when in use.
The keyboard guide includes a substantially rectangular frame. The frame has a front and back wall interconnected by two side walls. The guide also includes at least one divider, coupled between the front and back wall, having a top edge leaning toward the side wall that is closest thereto, to form an angle with respect to a vertical orientation.
The keyboard guide may also include at least one indicator, positioned on the divider, to indicate a key location. In one embodiment, the indicator is a bump on a side of the divider.
The keyboard guide may also include a central divider, coupled between the front and back walls, having a substantially vertical orientation along a top and bottom edge. The guide may also include right-side and left-side dividers, on opposite sides of the central divider respectively.
In one embodiment, the angle of the divider is substantially uniform for all of the dividers. In other embodiments, the angle of the divider toward the closest side wall increases corresponding to proximity to the closest side wall.
In one embodiment, the number of dividers is seven, having three right-side and three left-side dividers and one central divider,
In one embodiment, the front wall has a first height and the side and back walls have a second height that is greater than the first height. Moreover, the top edge of the side walls may be substantially flush with the top edge of the front and back walls.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. Other features of the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of the invention, taken with the accompanying drawings and claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention.